Live Review: Bloc Party at Reading Rivermead – 30th October 2009
There’s nothing better than seeing a band who are at the top of their game – great songs, great crowds, and still the enthusiasm of the day they first handed their demo tape to Steve Lamacq. This is the case with Bloc Party – their month long “Bloctober” gigs show off just what they’ve achieved in the course of three albums, and just how good a live band they really are.
After finding the (rather boring) Rivermead leisure complex, we caught openers Grammatics who were, as is often the case with opening bands, “good but not great”. Unmemorable, but reasonably competent to pass the time.
Soon enough Bloc Party time rolled around, and the guys ambled on, before launching into a set of songs that some bands can only dream about – fan favourites (The Marshals are Dead and Ion Square) and chart hits (Mercury, Two More Years and The Prayer) The crowd was definitely a Friday night crowd – Kele joked that he felt like he was in JLS, such was the level of screaming from the front. Playing “The Marshals are Dead” following someone throwing a request on stage, Kele mentioned their upcoming haitus – “fuck it – we only have two more shows left, we might as well play it! Ahh, that sounded kind of terminal – there will be plenty more Bloc Party shows!”
Bringing out the extra drums for Gordon for the encore, a stunningly beautiful version of “Sunday” was a personal highlight – the line “You see giant proclamations / Are all very well / But our love is louder than words” is just sublime. However, the quick downtime was soon abandoned for a song “about fighting” – Ares, Kele going through the words spitfire style, spitting them with force, quite a sight to see.
Of course, all good things have to come to an end, and with the amazing double header of Flux and Helicopter the four guys were gone, the last we’ll see of them for quite some time. I’m just hoping that they’ll come back to continue from where they left off.
After the jump: setlist and a few photos.
Bloc Party – Setlist: Reading Rivermead – Friday 30th October 2009
Halo
Waiting for the 7:18
Mercury
Signs
Hunting for Witches
Song for Clay
Banquet
Blue Light
Ion Square
Two More Years
The Marshals are Dead
One More Chance
Modern Love
The Prayer
—
Sunday
Ares
Flux
Helicopter
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